Shirt sleeve



Nov. 26, 1963 s. D. SWINNEY SHIRT SLEEVE Filed Aug. 1, 1960 INVENTOR GEN EVA D. SWINNEY ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,111,682 SHIRT SLEEVE Geneva D. Swinney, Rte. 1, Cascade, Va. Filed Aug. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 46,477 1 Claim. (Cl. 2270) The present invention relates to a garment and more particularly to a cuff for shirt sleeves and the like.

Shirt sleeve cuffs usually are constructed so as to close around the wrist and exclude dirt but must be capable of being opened in some way so that the hand of the wearer may pass through the cuff. To provide for this, the cuff must be elastic or constructed so that it can be laid open and then fastened again to close around the wearers wrist after he has put his hand through it. The simplest construction, and the one most commonly used on mens shirts, incorporates a longitudinal slit in the sleeve, extending from the lower end of the sleeve along one side thereof to near the elbow. A button or cuff link is used to close the lower end of the sleeve. Such construction is undesirable since it has an open slit along one side of the sleeve and dirt can pass through the slit, even though the cuff is closed about the wearers wrist.

In sleeves which have cuffs Wide enough to pass over the Wearers wrist, without means to close down about the wrist, dirt can easily enter the lower part of the sleeve and, while elastics cuffs avoid these difficulties, such sleeves cannot be adjusted in length easily.

To overcome these problems, another type of cufi is used in which one part of the bottom of the sleeve is folded over and buttoned down against the remainder of the sleeve to close the cuff against the wrist. This type of cuff usually suffers from the difiiculty that the crease formed in the sleeve as it is folded is not neat and the foldeddown flap does not lie flat against the sleeve. Such cuffs also are usually difficult to adjust in length, since, in most cases, the structure provided for folding the sleeve over and fastening it is so complex that it is difficult or impossible to lengthen the sleeve.

The present invention overcomes these difliculties and provides a cuff construction in which a flap folds over to lie flat against the 'Wearers wrist and form a neat crease while being easily adjusted in length with minimum of difficulty. 'The cuff has a hem taken internally from the bottom end of the sleeve which is tacked upwardly against the inside of the sleeve and, to provide for folding the sleeve down against the we-arers wrist, there is a tab sewed to the sleeve. The tab has a button hole, and there is a button sewed onto the sleeve to hold the tab down. When the tab is buttoned down it draws with it a part of the sleeve which is folded down to form a flap.

The tab is sewed through a double layer of sleeve. That is, before the tab is sewed in place, the sleeve is folded lengthwise to form a flap and the tab is sewed through both layers of fabric at the fold. This serves to tack the flap together to form a neat crease and, when the flap is held down by buttoning the tab it will lie fiat against the sleeve.

The sleeve itself is made from a single piece of fabric, folded over and joined along a longitudinal seam. This seam is stitched together before hemming so that it does not interfere with the hem, and the hem can be taken out without opening the seam. To adjust the length of the sleeve, it is only necessary to unstitch the tab and the button, change the length of the hem, and replace the tab and button. Obviously, this is quite simple.

The invention can be better understood by reference ice to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment and from the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a rear view of the sleeve illustrating the internal hem and the seam of the sleeve;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the sleeve showing the man ner in which the tab secures the flap;

FIG. 3 is a partial view showing the fastening of the internal hem;

FIG. 4 shows a pattern from which material can be cut for the sleeve;

FIG. 5 shows the hemrning of fabric cut on the pattern of FIGURE 4 after a seam has been sewed;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the cuff in the open position, illustrating a preferred double fold seam; and

FTG. 7 shows the cuff in perspective in a closed position.

The sleeve has a cuff indicated generally at 1 which includes an internal hem 2 and a flap 3 which folds down against the cuff. There is a tab 4 sewed through both layers of fabric of the flap 3 from its underside which has a button'hole 5. A button 6 is sewed to the sleeve at a point to engage and secure the button-hole 5. The seam 7 of the sleeve is continuous along the sleeve, the outer portion of the cuff, the lower end of the cuff and the internal hem and preferably it is a double fold-down type as illustrated at 3 in FIG. 6 although other types of seams can be used.

To sew the sleeve from material cut to the pattern shown in FIG. 4, a seam 7 is first sewed. Then the lower end of the sleeve is folded against the inside of the sleeve and hemmed along the seam 9. A fold is taken in the sleeve running longitudinally along crease iii and the tab 4 is sewed through the flap 3 to secure both pieces of fabric together. The flap is folded down, the position for the button is determined and a button 6 sewed.

To adjust the length of the sleeve it is only necessary to remove the tab and the button and take out the hem 2. When the hem has been adjusted and re-sewed the tab and button are replaced. By fastening the tab to both sides of the flap 3, it is possible to make the crease f0 neat and thin, firmly holding together the two pieces of fabric folded against each other.

In the preferred embodiment described, the tab 4 is sewed to the underside of the flap and is partially concealed when the flap is buttoned down. It is possi le to vary the amount of material which is folded down and the size of the flap by changing the position of the button so as to adjust the cuil to various sizes of wrist.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, various changes and modifications may be made in the details of the construction, such as in the use of securing devices other than buttons, and in the method of making and adjusting the sleeve without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claim.

What is claimed is:

A lengthwise-adjustable shirt sleeve cuff construction comprising a tubular fabric cuff, the lower end of the cuff being folded inwardly and sewed to the inside of said cuff, said cuff being folded lengthwise to form a flap along a crease line, a tab sewed to said flap and through it adjacent said crease line to secure the folded portions of fabric together as an integral unit of fabric having a neat, sharp crease line, said tab lying across said crease line and against the tubular portion of the cuff adjacent said crease line when the flap is folded against said tubular portion, a button sewed to said tubular portion of the cuff and a button hole in said tab remote from said flap for securing said tab to the button and to the tubular portion of the cuff, the tab, in being sewed through the flap, securing the inwardly folded fabric to the outer fabric, the length of said sleeve being adjustable by removing the stitching securing said tab to said flap, said button to said tubular portion of the cuff and said inwardly folded t-abric to the inside of the cuff, and after adjustment of the length, replacing said stitching.

974,692 Moore Nov. 1, 1910 4 Takahashi Apr. 25, 1939 Chait et a1 J an. 16, 1940 Markowitz Jan. 13, 1942 Lampkowitz June 12, 1956 Stevenson July 22, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Oct. 13, 1955 

